History Real Blood Sport: Old-Time Demolition Derby

LostForAWhile, I was a long way from Ashtabula. Ours was the Hocking County Fair, down in the hills of South Ohio.

Favorites with Derby Dudes were mid-'50s Hemi DeSotos (Chryslers seemed scarce), 2nd-generation T-Birds and Imperials, though there just weren't many of those to be had.

What guys liked about those was (1) the REAR END gradually crunch UP against the differential, INSTEAD of digging into the ground; made a good battering ram, and (2) they could take osme licks in the front end with the radiator spewing or the front wheels getting fouled. It helped that judges let you cut out the wheel wells a bit, too. Guys who didn't do it were often immobilized WITH their engines & tranny's still holding up fine!

 

I remember as a kid seeing ShaNaNa perform live in the infield at the Ashtabula county fairgounds before a derby, didn't realize until recently how big of a deal that was,wonder if the grandstands are still there?

 

My Aunt lived about 1/2 mile from the Oswego Speedway, My cousin and I usta go every chance we could, If we didn't have any money we would sneak in or hitch a ride with the racers. I recall those demo specials in the late 50's and early 60's, One or two of the guys always had Packards, and a couple would show up with Caddy or Buick hearses and Flower cars and even old ambulances. Seems those Packards always did pretty well, Lincolns too. OHHHH the Humanity.

 

After looking extensively at my old derby pictures and photo albums, the oldest car I've derbied was a 1966 ford ranch wagon. It did ok, but up against the mid 70's GM"s and a couple of beefed up Lincolns, it didn't last as long as I thought it would. At the XDDL (Xtreme demolition derby league--now defunct) a few years ago in Woodland, Ca, this dude called "the undertaker" showed up in a 1956 Lincoln Continental 4 door!!! Holy cow, that thing could take hit after hit and deliver blows like there's no tomorrow. Needless to say, the car did very well and placed in the main event. When my brother ran his 56 desoto a few years back, the front end (body panel wise) was pretty weak, but the rear end and frame stayed in decent derby shape all the way through the heat and main event. I never got to see one of those old car derbys live, but I bet you could here the hits a mile away!! Nowadays, earlly 60's chrysler Imperials are hot commodities for derby drivers. You can take one of those (if you know how to build them right) and get 3-5 derbys out of them. They are tough, solid cars. Some places in California and Nevada have outlawed running any chrysler imperials, and some of these same promoters are eliminated GM station wagons as well. Sign of the times for sure. I love derbys, and will do them as long as I can, and will support and watch them as long as I can, sad thing is though I dont think we'll be doing this 10 years from now....unless you want to smash little cars!!

 

Motorhead711, I love the nostalgic details here, dude!

I note, though, some heavy-bodied stuff (stationwagons & flower cars, for example) were smashing the shit out of regular sedans.

We may have had a small town, but stationwagons & such had to run against the SAME type cars, in a separate heat. SO, THOSE GUYS WHO WERE IN IT foR THE $$$ ONLY SKIPPED OUT FAIR & WENT WHERE THE RULES WERE MORE LAX! iT was LIKE nascar, IN A sense: gUYS WOULD FIGURE OUT ANY (TECHNICALLY) LEGAL WAY TO GET AN EDGE -- AND CHEATING IS ONLY CHEATING IF YOU GET CAUGHT!!! lol.

Yeah, OUR Demo Derby was well supervised, AND guys STILL bashed the hell of eachother -- just FAIRLY.

 

Amen brother. You nailed it right on the head. Like in all forms of racing, there is that thing known as "the grey area." And anyone who competes in motorsports will dabble somewhere near or in that grey area from time to time. It's sad, but it HAPPENS. And yes, I know plenty of derby drivers that will only go to certain shows because they know they can build their cars the way they've always built them, and will never get questioned. Cheating is only cheating if you get caught, and in the world of demo derbys, there's LOTS of things that get overlooked if you know the what's and how's of building derby cars. Am I complaining?? Hell no. It's the nature of the beast with demo derbys. Either you try to guess at building cars and hope you have good luck, or actually start LOOKING at some of these cars and start asking questions on how to build them. Most guys you ask will give you the "basics." Many derby drivers have trade secrets that they will never tell. And believe me....there is a genuine "science" to building derby cars and knowing how to drive. Certain cars fold certain ways, a cut here or patch there can make the difference in getting taken out during the heat or winning a main event. It's strange, but definatley true. There's a reason why certain guys always make the main event and seemingly do well at all the derbys they compete in. They are good at what they build, and they know how to drive, it's not a fluke.
The motor thing is becoming a standard issue when building a derby car now. A lot of the derby's my brother and I compete in have guys that will spend anywhere from 1000- 6000 dollars on their motors!! The days of taking a stock car, and doing the bare minimum to compete are over in my area. In fact, there are even a few companys back east that build these motors that are GUARANTEED to run without water for as long as you keep the foot to the floor. I have seen them run, and they are amazing. And when you hear them screaming across the mud, it's sounds like you're in a late model feature main event!! Nasty motors. Anyways, sorry for the rantings, this thread just happened to hit a nerve that I am all to familiar with....once the derby virus is in your blood, it's damn near impossible to get rid of!!

 

Man, Motorhead, you sure touched on some GREAT points there!

ONE is doing things that'll PASS to "help" the rear end bend up right, instead of digging down into the ground. I always believed some derby regulars did a little frame notching with the torch, to help make sure the rear end crumpled in the right way.

I mean, it's nice to keep yer front end out of guys' gunsights, BUT that won't do you any good if yer BACK end is plowing up the track!

 

Another point you made is about the guys -- I really consider them pretty much SEMI-PROs -- who spend tons of time and money to build cars that'll hold up for a half-dozen heats, or MORE.

You could always recognize these guys when their trailers hit the front gate. The CARS had already been in battles, and THESE guys just had a blood-in-their-eyes attitude that was different from the guys who only did it once a year, ya know?

Some people didn't like them (sort of like card sharks) and thought they should run in a separate class. BUT, one thing was for sure: THESE were guys to WATCH when the shit started hitting the fan. You KNEW they were out there put cars out of commission as fast as possible, so THERE would be some ACTION there!!!

 

saw some demo derby school buses the other day on espn now that was crazy lol.

 

Here in Northern Minnesota, the demo derby is still king - the best night of entertainment of the year. At the county fair, the purse is $5000! A buddy of mine is one of the local ringers - he runs nothing but mid 60's Lincolns. I hate to say it, but the "rusted beyond repair" cars don't demo well. Rust-free cars are much stronger and if they're affordable, they are going to get wrecked.

Latey, the biggest thing is pick-up truck demos. These things are down right violent! The trucks are incredibly tough. The good thing is that nobody winces when a 75 Dodge Ram gets squashed.

 

School buses?!?!?!?!? WOW!!!

I remember seeing on TV at some Midwestern Co. STATE Fair one time where they were doing a demo derby with cornpickers or combines. SOMEbody is gonna take anything to the MAX, eh?

 

HenryJ429, yeah, you're right. The less cancer, the stronger the body.

One of the NICEST I ever saw was a cherry '56 DeSoto SPORTSMAN. The guy was a newbie & hadn't even taken much off/out the car. I ran onto it walking the staging area before a heat. Sheesh, if I'd just KNOWN he had this car, I'd have given my right arm to buy it off of him.

Anyway, it didn't do well, 'cause the guy was inexperienced. Too bad if it HAD to go it hadn't been in better hands.

 

Ya man. That's the way it rolls. And with most derby promoters, if you run a used car they will allow a certain amount of frame repair. And that is a good thing. Once the rear of that frame is rolled up above the rear end, and then you add some plating and welds in certain spots as "frame repairs," that ass end is not going to move at all any more. In a lot of derbys I've ran in, I've had better luck with used cars that have folded in the right direction. I've also been on the other end (in my early/beginning derby days) where I've used the rear end to "grade" the mud because we didn't know how to notch frames at that time. It's a hoot man, and if any of you hambers want to compete in one for your first time, DO IT. You WILL always remember it!!!!

 

KustomKat just load that Pontiac up on your trailer and bring it back here to Ohio (I want it for yard art!) and then you can load up that '51 Lincoln and take it back to Cali!!!!
Good Idea HUH???

 

Imperials were the only cars I ever got more than one derby out of unless something stupid happened like gettin' hung up. Most everything I run is junk after a heat and feature. The sandbaggers that hope to get a couple of derbies out their cars? Not if I can help it! I'll put a WOT full track shot on the front of your $3000.00 Texas roundback with your $5000.00 alky motor whenver I can with my $100 rust bucket big block Mopar. And if I can tip you over or bend your stacks over into your face all the better! Watch out for that #714, he's fucking crazy! http://undergroundvideonetwork.com/kentontv3.htm

 

Here is one of mine:




'59 Lincoln
-440 Chrysler/ 727
-full spooled 8 3/4" Mopar rear w/ 4:10s and Moser 35 splined axles
- leafed with GM 3/4" ton springs
-1/4" plate drivers door
-7- 10lb. rolls of wire in just the front clip alone
-'75 Dodge Monaco front bumper and bumper shocks
I built this car for all the wrong reasons and actually had some pretty bad luck with it. It's been through two derbies and is still pretty straight. I had nothing but problems with the front suspension, so I pulled all the drivetrain until I can figure out a good frontend to put under it. It will be back.

 

DERBIES.........well, I have been doing them every year since 1996. In the last 7 years I have done over 8 derbies a year, sometimes 10 and they are definately a kick ass fun as hell, beer drinking good time but out here in california, we are running out of cars and some of the fairs have been getting rid of them because of the enviromental crap but..thats california. I love all the Old derby books and videos, if you guys and gals get a chance, look up the movie Steel Arena!! Anyways here are some derby pictures, I built a 56 desoto 4 door last year, put 74 Caddy bumper and brackets on the front, layed a 440 and a 727 in her and I have to tell you, that was the funnest car I have ever drove!!! Heres some pictures of the last few years with me and my brother.. Smash on and don't forget to bring the beer!!! P.S any Hambers from Nevada going to the derby this weekend?? Come buy and see us, JOKER JASON #11.

 

Heres another of the Desoto, My wife is a photographer for a living so she took a couple shots of me and my buddy who was running a 57 Lincoln going at it that night, I like the black and white shot, looks pretty cool, See ya, JOKER JASON.

 

HONEYCAKE around, man thats awesome!!!! I know a few guys out here that are going to hear that from me at the next derby!!! later man.

 

Right on Crashnburns!! Damn fine looking derby machine!! And you got one of my idols as your avatar brother...LONG LIVE WENDELL SCOTT!!

 

Whoah! Sounds like X426X has some bad-ass attitude. I'd keep my eye on him on the track AND try to keep my front end angled AWAY from him!!! YIKE!

 

Thanks man. Sad part is, this was the most work I've put into a car, and it was the worse I've ever done. Ha ha. That's what makes the sport great, you never know how it's gonna turn out.

 

As a kid I alway loved the demoliton derby from our county fair in southern Illionios and vowed I would do it one day. Well after moving to San Diego I thought it would never happen. But they actually started doing demo at the San Diego Fair a few years ago so I have participated the last three years. It's actually a fair amount of work to prepare the cars, and the rules don't even allow much modification. (non-welded event) However there is absolutely nothing better than smashing into the other cars. I'm laughing and screaming the whole time, it's over way too soon. I do it just to have fun. As mentioned in the first post too many guys try to sandbag until the last few minutes. To me that would take all the fun out. I've ran two Caddys and an LTD all from the seventies. I've made the main event each time. Great fun that I would recommend to any car guy.
Rick

 

Very nice, I wish everyone had your attitude. People are so hung up on winning these days it's taking all the fun out of it. Years back there were so few sandbaggers the were easy to take care of. We'd beat the piss out of them until they didn't want to come back. Got rid of alot of guys that way. But, there are so many now, it's tough.

 

Ricks57, it's posts like YOURS that have just taken this thread WAY farther than I thought it could POSSIBLY go, Rick!

Since Demo Derby is/was everywhere, BUT the action generally takes place on a local and regional basis (with no particular sanctioning or rule-making body), I NEBER DREAMED THE REACTION TO MY QUESTION WOULD BE SO ENTHUSIASTIC & HIGH-ENERGY.

Shit, I guess there are people out there who love Demo Derby as much as me -- not JUST old-timey, either! Guys are STILL doing it -- BIG-time !!!

 

KEEP the personal viewpoinst and anecdotal stuff COMING, gang! I could read your stories ALL day!!! LOL

 

You've created a monster jimi!! Demo derbys are a huge part of my life, if my bro and I aren't working on hot rods, we're working on derby cars. And if it wasn't for my brother Jokerjason, a bunch of guys in town wouldn't be able to derby at the local fair or neighboring towns. He welds, cuts, torches, fixes motors, anything that needs to be done to get another derby bro into the mud for one last shot, he'll help'em out. ....."ok, lets count 'em down folks.....5.......4......3.....2......1......DERBY!!!"

 

...just some more random derby pics of me and my bro's derby cars...within the last 2 years...

 

...here's some more derby pics of the crew, my brother, and me at various derbys this year and last year...

 

Motorhead, if this is a monster, I LIKE IT!!! I woke up in the middle of the night thinking about where to put the gas tank plus welding in a bulkhead to protect it, how to reposition the radiator, putting concrete in the tires (seen it done! LOL), running snow tires, etc., etc. !!!!

The PIX of you, your brother and the posse are great!!!